Why Has The British Nuclear Deterrent Been Controversial

Question 1

Why did the Labour government of the late 1940s build a nuclear bomb?

Answer 1

Because the NATO Treaty, signed in 1949, generated fears that the USA might be unwilling to defend Europe

Question 2

Since when has Britain’s nuclear deterrent been relain on the Americans?

Answer 2

Since 1962, when Macmillan persuaded Kennedy to supply Britain with Polaris missiles to carry British warheads

Question 3

What are some argument against the British nuclear deterrent?

Answer 3

Compared to other countries nuclear arsenal, we are irrelevant
It is very costly

Question 4

What group, founded in 1958, had annual marches at Aldermaston in Berkshire to Trafalgar square and raised 100,000 protesters in 1960, abasing nuclear weapons?

Answer 4

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

Question 5

What agreements on nuclear technology did Britain sign?

Answer 5

They joined the USSR and USA in banning nuclear testing in space in 1963, in 1968 signed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty where they agreed not to share nuclear technology with other nations, and Britain played little part when the two superpowers negotiated the two Strategic Arms Limitations Treaties (SALT) in 1972 and 1979

Question 6

What discussion between Reagan and Gorbachev was Thatcher disapproving of?

Answer 6

‘Zero option’, the complete abolition of nuclear weapons on both sides